NWA SCABS at Best Western

[KC-10 Driver]

Don't mean to thread hijack here, but...

Posted by erj-145mech
Jet Blue is taking their aircraft to Honduras for work. The technicians in Honduras aren't unionized. Are Jet Blues aircraft unsafe?

Posted by bocefus
Honduras? Try next door in Nicaragua. But, point taken

Posted by justApilot
It's only a matter of time before the south of the border mx becomes an issue. I can't believe the FAA is onboard with that program.

Posted by bocefus
Are you suggesting that "south of the border" FAA certificated repair stations are somehow less qualified than domestic FAA certificated repair stations?

Posted by justApilot
YES I AM!

Actually, the work is done in San Salvador, El Salvador (as well as in Winnipeg, Canada).

The work in El Salvador is done by TACA, which I understand has an excellent reputation worldwide for aircraft heavy maintenance excellence.

It seems to me that justApilot thinks only North Americans can do quality work. Or, perhaps he simply thinks Latin Americans are incapable of doing good technical work?

 

[erj-145mech]

Thanks for the correction. I wasn't positive about the location, so I shot from the hip on that one.

 

[Laughing_Jakal]

Stick to your guns

...and take'em down boys! Otherwise this will be one in a series of more concessions.

 

[uh60james]

If the airplane isn't airworthy, in the Captains opinion, he won't accept it. The Captain won't put anyones life in jeopardy because of a maintenance issue.

I'm sure the pilots of the recent airline crashes thought there aircraft were good to go. Obviously the pilot cant give the aircraft a %100 before he goes and flys it.

 

[DirkkDiggler]

Under the FWIW category ... the pilots at UPS have unilaterally removed NWA from its "approved carrier list" ... thereby halting all booking of transportation on NWA for the duration of the mechanics' strike. YES, ABSOLUTELY we believe NWA will be less safe to travel on with poorly trained replacement (SCAB) mechanics turning wrenches for them.

Good luck to all the hard-working mechanics at NWA!

Regards,

BBB

With all due respect. Just because NWA has been removed from UPS approved carrier list, does not mean that they were removed for safety issues. That would certainly be a fair reason to do so, but show us where UPS has publicly stated that this is the reason. There are many reasons NWA could have been pulled and you are just surmizing the most dramatic reason you can think of. How about dispatch reliability? Could be that UPS is worried about flights getting where they need to be on time.

 

[skydivinguy]

how much is enough?

Re: the NWA mechanics strike. These guys want sympathy for themselves? The pay cut altho it seems like a lot, takes a top paid wrench from 40 to 30 bucks an hour right? Most folks can live pretty high on the hog for that money. The thing I'm wondering about is the 2,100 that NW wants to give the boot to. Were they that overstaffed? I know several mechanics I used to work with at Air Midwest long ago that went to NW in the mid 80's. The stories they told me of having to wait for another mechanic for a half day to bring them "special" rivets so they could complete their task was laughable. Oh yeah, you couldn't open the hanger doors unless you had a hanger door opener mechanic around. Unions suck.

 

[IndyGTP]

Re: the NWA mechanics strike. These guys want sympathy for themselves? The pay cut altho it seems like a lot, takes a top paid wrench from 40 to 30 bucks an hour right? Most folks can live pretty high on the hog for that money. The thing I'm wondering about is the 2,100 that NW wants to give the boot to. Were they that overstaffed? I know several mechanics I used to work with at Air Midwest long ago that went to NW in the mid 80's. The stories they told me of having to wait for another mechanic for a half day to bring them "special" rivets so they could complete their task was laughable. Oh yeah, you couldn't open the hanger doors unless you had a hanger door opener mechanic around. Unions suck.

The union offered concessions. This strike is not about pay... IT'S ABOUT JOBS! Taking a $20,000 pay cut is pretty harsh though. Why should anybody take a paycut when cost of living, fuel, and health care costs are rising? That doesn't make any sense.

How can they be overstaffed when they already farm out 62% of their maintenance? NWA wants it to be over 80% vendor maintenance.

 

[Dizel8]

The pay cut altho it seems like a lot, takes a top paid wrench from 40 to 30 bucks an hour right? Most folks can live pretty high on the hog for that money.

Heck, why pay them above min wage?

Either you are incredibly stupid or a scab, which is it?

 

[KigAir]

Heck, why pay them above min wage?

Either you are incredibly stupid or a scab, which is it?

Err, $30/hr is 60K a year. Well above min wage.

 

[skydivinguy]

Heck, why pay them above min wage?

Either you are incredibly stupid or a scab, which is it?

Niether actually. I'm DM for a non union outfit. I paid my dues over the years tho (literally and figuretivly, retired book IAM wrench with Air Midwest). I agree that that's a BIG pay cut, but what's better, making 60 grand a year or making whatever unemployment pays in the state you live in?

I also believe that corporations should share the wealth. I also know that they need to make a profit.

Seems that greed over the years led to lots of the major airline employees problems today.

Just my .02 worth.

Now think up another intelligent post with some new names!

 

[erj-145mech]

See, there ya go, using the voice of reason and cool headedness, destroying my faith in these forums.

 

[KigAir]

Heck, why pay them above min wage?

Either you are incredibly stupid or a scab, which is it?

I see on the AMFA's website that they also represent Mechanics at SWA. How much are the SWA workers paid?

 

[Dizel8]

Niether actually. I'm DM for a non union outfit. I paid my dues over the years tho (literally and figuretivly, retired book IAM wrench with Air Midwest). I agree that that's a BIG pay cut, but what's better, making 60 grand a year or making whatever unemployment pays in the state you live in?

I also believe that corporations should share the wealth. I also know that they need to make a profit.

Seems that greed over the years led to lots of the major airline employees problems today.

Just my .02 worth.

Now think up another intelligent post with some new names!

Okay, my apologies, I admit I was a bit harsh.

The problem I had with your statement is, that hey, X amount of money is still good. While that perhaps is true, were will the line be drawn? Depending on where one lives, 60K could be good, but I would not call it living "high on the hog" in most cases. So again, at what point is the pay to low? We both know, that management wants to pay a dollar and if they could, they would want labor to work for free.

As someone else said, this isn't just about money, it is also about jobs. If this goes through, AMFA will have seen about 75% job loss at NWA.

NWA is not going to share in the profit, they certainly have not in the past and if anything, this latest shows how far they will go, to break labors back. Clearly, they had NWA AMFA in the crosshairs and they are slowly adjusting their aim to the F/A's.

 

[erj-145mech]

I see on the AMFA's website that they also represent Mechanics at SWA. How much are the SWA workers paid?

From SWA's web site:

Pay:

• 1st six months - $18.94/hr + $4.00 License Premium (combined total for A&P license) + any shift differential that applies.
  Second six months - $19.89

All pay rates are contingent upon current contracts.

 

[IndyGTP]

SWA pay

Originally Posted by KigAir
I see on the AMFA's website that they also represent Mechanics at SWA. How much are the SWA workers paid?

Southwest - $18.94/$33.86 (6 yrs) +$2.00/per license; AMFA

Only trailing UPS, SWA mechs are the 2nd best paid out of the airlines.

SWA's glory days will eventually end. And when they do, we all know who they will come after first.